You're in Trouble Now
by Phantom Creedy Lover
Summary: Follows Cold Season. Neal gets involved with the mob, and ends up dragging Maddie into it. Now Peter has to fight the clock to save them, as well as keep Neal from cozying up to Maddie. Easier said than done? Peter thinks so, too.
1. Falling

_**A/N: This is a companion piece to Cold Season and I'll Be at the Burke's for Christmas. I originally wanted this to be named "Son of a..." but this site's formatting screwed it up and got rid of the "..." so it just looked dumb. I don't expect this to be as well recieved as my other White Collar stuff, but it's worth a shot. Enjoy, and please review and tell me what you thought.**_

_Three hours ago:_

Madison Burke had just finished putting her dinner dishes away from the dinner she and her friend had just shared when she glanced out the window. She wasn't quite sure what to make of what she saw. A man was hanging onto the neighbor across the street's houses second story window, and attempting to swing upright. She turned towards the living room where her friend, Lucy, was. "Uh…Luce? I think that someone's trying to break…" When the man turned his head slightly, only to snap his eyes shut and turn back, she practically dropped the glass she had in her hand. "Neal?!" She couldn't believe it. Neal Caffrey was the apparent burglar. "What the Hell…?" She went over to the phone on the other side of the room.

"What is it, Maddie?"

"Nothing. I thought I uh… saw something. Go pick out a movie or something. I'll be right there. Mind if I use your phone?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, sure." She turned and went back into the other room.

Madison pounced on the phone and dialed her brother's number. One ring, two rings…

"Burke."

"Pete!"

"Maddie? Uh… hi, but uh… sorry, this isn't the best time…"

"Why? Does it have to do with Neal?"

"Doesn't it always? Look, I really have to-"

"Peter, shut up. I'm looking at Neal right now."

"What?! How did he find out where you live?! I swear to God, when we get him back…"

"I'm not at my house right now, I'm at… what did you just say? _Get him back_?"

"We were on a case earlier when someone grabbed him and started waving a gun around, telling us not to follow, then dragged him off."

"Oh God."

"You said you're looking at him?"

"Yeah, he's uh…" _Hanging out?No. Horrible pun._ The truth would cause her brother to have a heart attack, anyway. "Next door."

"Where are you?"

"Lucy's." Madison replied, hearing Peter scribbling an address down on paper. Peter and Lucy had met a few times (thus being the butt of a few Chronicles of Narnia jokes), and Lucy had even invited him and Elizabeth to her annual barbeque.

"Okay. Just… keep an eye on him."

Madison looked back at Neal, dangling from the sill, and ducked when one of his hands lost grip. "That's easier said-" she heard a click, indicating that he had hung up. "Than done." She growled slightly, then opened the window. "Neal?!" she hissed. He didn't hear her, not that she was surprised. She heard footsteps on the stairs, indicating Lucy had gone upstairs for something. The fact that she was now alone encouraged her. "Neal!" she called, louder this time. This time, Neal heard her, but unfortunately for him, his name being called startled him, which caused him to accidentally let go of the sill and sent him falling to the ground.

Madison yelped. "Oh God, Neal!" she pushed the window open more and slipped out. The Hell with what Peter said about someone being armed. She just made someone fall down a story and possibly killed them. She darted across the street and ducked by the windows, just in case. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Neal lying facedown on the ground. By some miracle, he had missed the concrete by a few inches. "Neal?!"

"Ooooooooooooooooow."

Madison had never been so happy to hear someone in pain. She couldn't help but throw her arms halfway around Neal when he slowly pushed himself up.

"Ah, ah, not helping." Neal choked out.

Madison let go of him. "Sorry."

Neal got up more. "Whatever. I'm alive, that's what counts. Why're you here?"

Madison pointed at Lucy's house. "My friend's house."

"Small world." Neal commented, rolling over and rubbing his stomach.

Madison shook her head. "Whatever. Neal, what the Hell is going on? Why were you just out the window."

"I wasn't there by choice."

"Obviously. What's going on? Peter said that some guy had you at gunpoint earlier and dragged you off."

"Sounds about right. Oh, your friends neighbor's, by the way- work for the mob."

"Wonderful." When she saw him right himself to stand, she helped him up. "So… you… the window?"

"Got out of the cuffs they had me in, got out the window, looked around to try and get a lay of the land… the getting back in part didn't work so well."

"Yeah. So you're seriously being held by someone right now? An old rival or something?"

"I honestly have no idea." Neal replied. "Why don't you ask the guys?"

"If they were armed, why would I want to do that?"

" 'Cause they're coming right at us." Neal replied, looking over Madison's shoulder.

"What?!" Madison whirled around, and sure enough, two men who looked just about ready to murder were headed towards them. She barely even noticed the fact that Neal had grabbed her wrist and pulled her with him as he took off in the opposite direction until she had subconsciously started running with him. She panicked more than she had been when a few gunshots went off and part of another neighbor's tree just about exploded.

"Please tell me there's a shopping center or something nearvy!" Neal called over the commotion.

"That's the reason Lucy moved over here from further out!" Madison called back. "How the Hell are you running right now after you take a fall like that?!"

"Experience!" Neal called back, hopping a low hedge that Madison managed to slip through in the break in it a couple of feet down.

Neal skidded to a brief halt at an intersection. "Left or-"

"Right!" Now it was Madison's turn to grab his hand and drag him in the correct direction, just as more bullets came their way.

"You're taking this in strides!" Neal called.

"Are you honestly flirting right now?!" Madison demanded.

"No, just asking… kinda!"

"CIA dad, one brother in the FBI and the other two in NYPD, and a very fast middle school bully. You grow up in that environment, you hear stories, and even live through crap you really shouldn't!" Madison replied.

Neal nodded, then spotted the line of stores just about a block down. "Yes!"

The two of them sped up, succeeding in getting a few more feel on the men who were still in pursuit. Once they reached the block, they managed to disappear in the crowd. Neal went to duck into the first store, but Madison held him back.

"No. Go into a random one. They always pick the first one to go into."

"That's al little concerning you know that." Neal replied, but let her lead him into the pet store three doors down all the same. They went into the fish tank aisle, then watched and waited for the men to pass. Once the men did, they waited a few more seconds until an overweight boy came into the aisle and stared at them before they moved on.

They got out, and Neal looked at her. "Well, looks like we're okay now. You and I make a pretty good team."

Madison smirked. "Save it, Romeo. We still have to get out of here."

The two barely made it three feet from the sidewalk when they heard a gun cock right behind them. Both froze, not bothering to exchange looks with each other- or whoever had them at gunpoint, for that matter.

"Thought you could escape with your girlfriend, did you, Caffrey?" the man demanded.

Neal paused, then decided it was better not to annoy the person with the weapon. He doubted putting his hands up would be wise either. "It was worth a try. Just don't hurt her." Now he glanced at her, and she glanced back, before both of them were nudged forward. "We'll see. For now, walk. Both of you."

Present:

Once again, Peter wasn't sure whether to worry about or want to kill Neal. He knew that the art thief couldn't help being dragged off by some mystery man- psychopath, for all he knew, but now his sister was involved. Maddie, the most innocent out of the Burke children- the only one who didn't go into law enforcement. The only shred of hope for them that he had was that neither or them had been found dead by Lucy's home. After they had heard about the shootout that had happened, Peter, Lauren, and Jones had searched in a three block radius and found absolutely nothing. Peter took it as positive as possible, saying that Neal had gotten away and Madison was with him. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew if that was the case, his sister was safe. However, at the same time, if Madison didn't know Neal, chances are she wouldn't be in this situation. "Damn it!" He kicked a nearby rock, and Jones, who was coming his way, had to duck to avoid it.

Jones looked from the rock to Peter. "Uh…"

Peter glared at him. "What is it?"

Jones held up his cell phone. "It's uh… Hughes wants to talk to you."

Peter took the phone. "Burke."

Jones was personally getting scared more and more by the second as he watched Peter get more and more red as his conversation with Hughes went on. He was afraid of asking what Hughes had to say when Peter hung up and nearly crushed the phone in his fist, but he did anyway. "What was that about?"

"He took me off the case. Caffrey and _my sister_ are missing, and he took me off of their case!" Peter snarled.

"Oh. Sorry, man."

"I'm going back there to have a chat with him." Peter replied, heading for his car.

"Don't kill anyone!" Jones called, scratching his ear. He was out of earshot now, and Peter had probably ignored him, but it was still awkward. "Okay."

Lauren came over to him.

Jones looked at her. "We should stop him, shouldn't we?"

"Oh yeah."

A/N: So what did you think? I'm sure that this won't be as well received as my other White Collar stuff, but it's worth a shot. Feel free to review, I could use the feedback.


	2. No

**A/N: Yay, I stand corrected with the well-received bit from before. Anyway, this chapter mentions the show "Castle", so people who don't know it, just ignore that bit. Anyways, thanks for the reviews for the last chapter, I hope to hear from you guys again, as well as new people. This'll basically be the last chapter with the split times. Enjoy.**

8 hours ago:

"Hey, Peter, can I…?"

"No."

Peter and Neal were standing in the middle of an art gallery, talking to the owner about a robbery he had recently, and Peter had the brain lapse, as he considered it, to stand in front of the painting Neal had been drooling over all afternoon. There was no way that the agent would let Neal go anywhere without him. Art gallery equaled short leash, after all.

Neal pouted and huffed dramatically, trying to win Peter over. As usual, the attempt failed. It caused him to pout more. "Fine." He went to walk away, only to have Peter yank him back by the collar. "I have to pee!"

"No you don't, you liar!"

Neal looked offended, but let the caught look grace his eyes briefly. He moved so he was closer to Peter. "This is all your fault. You're the one who brought me here! You should've known I was gonna be like this!"

"Shut up!" Peter hissed.

"No, because you know I'm right!" Neal argued. "Admit it, partner. I win."

"No ya don't. I didn't have a choice." Peter replied.

"Yes you did. Coulda left me in the car. I would've been more behaved than Castle."

"Castle actually helps Beckett out, idiot. You drag us down." Peter replied.

Neal scoffed and leaned back, only to have an arm go around his neck, from behind. "What the Hell?!" He fought for a moment, that was, until he felt the cold end of a gun pressed against his forehead. He looked over at Peter, who had just seemed to snap out of his shock before bringing his own gun up.

Neal's captor laughed bitterly. "You shoot me, I take your friend Neal down with me."

Neal fought again, which only made the arm around his neck tighten. He tried to remember the voice. He didn't. What had he ever done to this guy? How did he know him?

"Who are you? What do you want?" Peter demanded.

"Who I am isn't important. I have some unfinished business with Mr. Caffrey. It's best for you to stay out of it."

"Bullshit!" Peter replied.

The man shrugged. "Fine by me if you don't believe me."

"Let him go and we can talk about this." Peter reasoned.

The man laughed. "Sorry, no can do."

Peter was just about ready to put a bullet in the man's shoulder when there was a series of pops that sounded like gunshots. He and a few of the FBI agents as well as stunned patrons dove for cover. Peter looked up a few moments later to find Neal and the man who had him at gunpoint were gone. "No. Goddamn it, NO!"

Neal was still stunned when the man shoved him into the backseat of the car. "Look, what is this about, 'cause I've never seen you in my life."

"It's not me that you should worry about." The man replied.

Neal gulped. "Oh… kay?" He held in a yelp when the man pulled his hands forwards and put them in some plastic tie of sorts. _Damn it. Now what?_

"Now sit down and shut up. Try and run, and you're dead."

Neal made a face, then leaned back, having a feeling the man wasn't joking. He didn't even have his cell phone so anyone could track him. Then it hit him. His tracker. He breathed out a quiet sigh of relief. The very thing he hated would probably be his saving grace. Who saw THAT coming? He pressed his lips together and waited to go wherever they were going. He didn't expect it would be a long drive- nor did he expect to fall asleep in the city and wake up in suburbia. He cursed himself for being so stupid, but at the same time, let confusion take over. "Where are we?"

"That's not for you to know, either." The driver replied.

Neal jumped slightly when his attention was brought to the side door when another, tough but heavy man practically flung open the door. He pulled back, only to have the man yank him forward by his ankle. Neal went wide-eyed briefly. He would've never expected the man to be that strong. _Alright, Fat Rambo, what're you up to?_ He swallowed hard when the man pulled his pant leg back and grunted at the tracer. No. Damn it, no. How could they have known? He tried not to wince when the man cut the strap, then looked at him. Neal smirked. He wasn't going to show any defeat.

"Come here." The man yanked him forward more, then pulled him out of the car. The second he did, he moved his hands so it looked like he was merely guiding him to the house. _Smart bastards._ For the first time in ages, Neal wanted Peter to pop out of nowhere and save him. He was shoved up the stairs and stumbled up them, then into the house. "Easy. I'm going willingly, aren't I?"

"Shut up." Fat Rambo replied, leading him up another set of stairs.

Neal rolled his eyes, but continued up, only to get shoved into another room.

"I'd suggest you stay put if you don't wanna get shot." Fat Rambo replied before leaving.

Neal turned and stared at the door for a while. Hell no. He was Neal Caffrey. He didn't take any shit lying down. "You wish, pal." He started to search the room for anything that could be used as a weapon- a backup plan, but a plan nonetheless. He didn't find anything, so he got desperate and started looking over the floorboards, hoping to find a lose one. He was unsuccessful once again. "Goddamn it!" He repeated, looking around once more. Surroundings. Just where was he? It was something Peter would do. He went over to the window in the room and yanked open the curtains. His heart just about stopped when he saw he was on the second floor, but there was a good portion of roof right outside, and then a tree. "Yes!" He grinned, then looked back at the door. "Idiots." He studied the window, looking for how to open it, and once he did, he opened it and stepped out. However, he didn't recall it had rained the previous night, so the roof tiles were still slippery. He went down like a ton of bricks and slid down. "Oh God." He gripped for the edge when he reached it, and was surprised when he ended up getting a good grip on it. He exhaled roughly. "Step two…" He looked down and tightened his grip. He had misjudged how tall the first story was. He still had a good few feet to drop. He snapped his eyes shut, trying to rid the vertigo, then turned back around. "Plan B again…" He started to swing slightly to try and get back up. It didn't help much, and his hand slipped. He managed to get his grip back. "Now what…?"

"NEAL?!"

Drop. Thud.

Present:

Elizabeth let out a squeak when Peter came into the house, slamming the door behind him. "Peter?"

"He's not letting me on the case! After I practically begged him!" Peter kicked at the wall. "Damn it, this is my sister and Neal we're talking about! My sister and the guy who might as well be my brother, too! UGH!" He collapsed into the seat beside the couch and finally looked at her. He frowned, seeing she was crying. "El? What is it? What's wrong?"

Elizabeth let out another whimper and pointed at the television.

Peter turned his attention to it, noticing that the news was on. His heart just about dropped at the headline_:_

_Famed Conman Neal Caffrey and Woman Found Dead in New Jersey Two Hours Ago._

"No. No!" Peter got up and paced. "That's not possible. El, they're alive. They CAN'T be dead, damn it!"

"They found two bodies. The coroner was on the news and announced- there he is." Elizabeth replied weakly, pointing at the screen again.

Peter's head shot to the televisin again, and he had to scoff. "That's no coroner. That's one of the mob boys that the FBI had to let go of a couple of years ago."

"But…" Elizabeth began, tears still welling up in her eyes.

Peter went over to her and knelt in front of her. "Sweetheart, they're fine. This whole thing is fake. Whoever has them- they come up with this. I have no clue whose bodies they are, but they are most definitely not Neal and Maddie, do you understand me? A real coroner would've called the FBI and gotten in contact with me, okay?"

Elizabeth inhaled sharply. "But what if they just haven't contacted you yet?"

Peter sighed. "El, do you honestly think Neal would let himself get killed? Hell, someone could shoot him in the heart and he'd bounce right back up and complain about their shooting skills, huh?"

Elizabeth let out a weak laugh, then nodded.

Peter smiled. "Good." He got up and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll find out what's going on, okay? I promise. They're fine."

Elizabeth hugged him. "Okay."

Peter hugged her back and sighed.

Both of them instantly tensed up when the doorbell rang. Peter's heart just about stopped yet again. _This can't be one of mine. I know I'm right. Maddie's not dead. Neal's not dead_. Some part of him had the courage to override his thoughts and got him to walk over to the door. It wasn't until he reached it that he realized Elizabeth was with him, holding his forearm in a death grip. He took a deep breath, just for good measure, and pulled it open. He could've fallen over when he saw it was Mozzie. That meant good news- or at least, as good as it can get.

"They're not dead." The two men said to each other simultaneously, then had equal looks of surprise that the other had the same news.

"Get in here!" Peter grabbed Mozzie by the side of his jacket and yanked him inside. "You know something…?"

Mozzie shook his head. "I was hoping you would, Mr. Suit."

Peter rolled his eyes. "What the Hell is going on?!" he demanded, then stopped and turned back to Mozzie. He narrowed his eyes and advanced on him. "You never fail to have news." He leaned forward. "What aren't you telling me? Damn it, we're on the same side!"

"That's arguable." Mozzie replied.

Peter grabbed him by the lapels. "Spill. Now."

Elizabeth gasped. "Peter! Neal and Maddie have been kidnapped or worse! Can you please take it easy for their sakes?! He's trying to help!"

"Depends on your definition of 'help', El." Peter replied, not taking his eyes off of Mozzie. "Now do you have something or not?"

Mozzie stared down Peter for a while, then held up a folder that Peter hadn't even noticed the man was holding. "Under one condition."

Peter snatched it before Mozzie even knew what was going on. He flipped it open. "This is…?"

Mozzie smirked. "Who has Neal and Sister Suit."

---

Meanwhile:

"Hey, whoa, ow!" Both Madison and Neal were objecting as they were getting crowded through a door to get into a small room in an apartment they had been dragged to. Both of them landed roughly on the couch, Madison more or less on top of him. However, Neal wasn't paying much attention. He was focused on the televison in the room. He looked at the man who had shoved them inside. "What kind of kidnappers put a TV in a holding room?!"

The man smirked. "Ones who want you to enjoy the show."

Neal squinted and just stared as the man left. "What the Hell…?"

"Neal…?"

Neal looked up at Madison. "What? Oh." He attempted to detangle himself from her.

Madison shook her head. "No." She took his chin and pointed it towards the T.V so he could see the same headline that Peter and Elizabeth had seen. "No. No!" He hopped off of the couch and over to the T.V to hear the story better. It was just basically repeating that they had been found dead in Jersey, a coroner had identified them, and further investigation was going on. "What the Hell?!"

Madison came up behind him. "This can't be happening."

"It is." Neal deadpanned.

Madison shook her head. "Oh God. Pete, El, Luce… they'll all believe this."

"No. They can't. They won't. Peter won't. Mozzie won't. They'll know we're okay, somehow."

"Who's Mozzie?" Madison asked.

Neal frowned. "Uh… no one." He flinched and raised his eyebrows at her when she punched his shoulder- _hard. _"Ow! What was that for?!"

Madison gave him The Peter Look again. "If you haven't noticed, we're prisoners- hostages, for all we know, and we're stuck together until we're rescued. I think it's time to be honest, don't you?"

Neal's lip twitched in distaste until he realized she was right. "He's a friend of mine. Goddamn genius, if you ask me. Helps me out a lot."

"With your thieving and stuff?"

Neal sent her an 'are you kidding me?' look.

Madison smirked and raised an eyebrow.

Neal frowned. "Fine. Yes. Happy now, _Peter_?"

"Happy as I can be at the moment." Madison replied. "So what're we gonna do about this?"

Neal shrugged. "Whatever we can to tell people we're alive and… somewhat well?"

"Alright. So what's step one?"

Neal looked around, then grinned. "We start a problem with what told us we had one."

"…Translation, please?" Madison asked.

Neal grinned. "We're gonna start a fire by messing up some of this place's wiring."

"Great… wait, WHAT?!"

---

**A/N: Yes, Peter and Neal's initial reactions about the report were the same on purpose. Well, hope you enjoyed. Drop me a line or a few, tell me what you thought. Favorite lines? Parts? Just like it in general?**


	3. Idiot

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews again. After seeing some of the success of the others like it, I've decided I wanna turn this into a (very slight) "Leverage" crossover. Three of the characters will be mentioned/ seen in a couple of spots, not always by name. The parts will be momentary, so if you don't know the show, you'll be fine. The first little mention is in this chapter, actually. I won't keep you any longer. Moving on.**

**--**

"Hold up, Neal. Please tell me you're kidding. You can't be serious. A fire? We have no clue where we are, you idiot!" Madison waved her arms frantically, turning in half circles and Neal bolted from different sides of the rooms to others, tapping them and mumbling to himself, as checking where certain electronics were plugged in. "Neal?! Are you even listening to me?!"

"No. I stopped when you turned into Peter ten minutes ago." Neal replied.

"Wha… look. one of us needs to be Peter in this situation!" Madison argued. "It's probably what's gonna keep us alive if you go ahead and _start this fire_."

Neal shrugged. "Well, it might keep some people alive… may kill me faster… or tempt me to kill myself, actually."

Madison smacked his arm again. "Not funny or charming in this situation."

"Fine- and I resent being called 'idiot', by the way."

"Too damn bad!"

Neal had to laugh at that.

"So what's your plan after you start this fire? They're gonna smell it before you even get anywhere."

"Don't jinx anything. Plus, we'll be out of here by the time it starts… or the fire will get out of my hands, people next door will see it, call 911 and find our bodies then know that we actually died now and not before."

Madison blinked. "Do you even hear yourself right now?!" she scoffed. "Christ! The smartest guy I know is going insane right in front of me in the worst possible scenario ever."

Neal looked at her. "I'm the smartest guy you know?" He sent her another winning smile, and once again, he crashed and burned when she didn't so much as blush. It just earned him another whack to the shoulder.

"Just get started in killing us, getting us noticed, or getting out of here, Caffrey."

Peter looked at the three other people who were at his dining room table. There was obviously Elizabeth, then Mozzie, then June, who had just about broken down before kissing both of Peter's cheeks when she had come to him after seeing the news and he told her it was a lie. He had assembled them to try and get information that the F.B.I couldn't. For some reason, unknown to him, Peter had prayed, just for a moment, that Kate would have been there. He wished she had shown that part of her did care about Neal, despite what went on. The other part of him that had the strong opinion that she was the scum of the Earth for hurting his best friend and that they were all better without her won over. Of course, while Mozzie said that he knew who had Neal and Madison, he simplified it as "the mob" and said nothing more on the topic. Peter had come up with about one hundred ways to kill him in the past few minutes. Elizabeth even had to hold him down at one point. "Alright, so we need lists of where Neal would go if he felt threatened or was in trouble and managed to get away." He instructed. He pointed to June, then Elizabeth. "June, El, the local places. Anywhere he likes to go or maybe told you he feels safe. I'll check out all the places Neal's escaped to during our cases…" He looked up at Mozzie, but it went from look to glare in record time. "You, local places, out of the state… _out of the country_…"

"Why would I give you those last ones?" Mozzie smirked.

"So we can save _our_ friend." Peter replied.

"What makes you think he considers you his friends?" Mozzie asked.

While Elizabeth held Peter back yet again, June took the Burkes by complete surprise. She leaned over and smacked Mozzie. Elizabeth covered her mouth with one hand, and Peter licked his lips about three times to keep from laughing. Mozzie just sat there, stunned. June scowled "How dare you?! As far as I'm concerned, Neal's my son, and a brother to these two! If you want to challenge that, then you can get out and don't expect me to welcome you into my house, even when Neal's around!"

Elizabeth, who still had a hand over her mouth, looked between them, waiting for a response, while Peter was grinning, thinking about how that was better than cable.

Mozzie blinked twice, then looked at Peter. "So… in state, out of state and out of country places?"

Peter nodded.

"Legal or non legal?" Mozzie asked.

Peter's grin faltered. "…Both."

Mozzie nodded. "Paper?"

Peter turned, grabbed a writing pad, ripped out a piece, and handed it to him. Once he did, he paused, thinking one fact over. Both legal _and_ _non legal_. He reached for the pad again, ripped out five more pages, and passed them over.

Mozzie smirked. "That's more like it. I'll be back in three hours." He gets up and leaves.

The other three watch him, and when they hear the door close, Peter leans halfway over the table. "That was _amazing_, June." He was back to laughing.

June nodded. "Hmph. You want to be like that and possibly ruin finding out where Neal is, I'm definitely going to say something. Did you know Neal just called me 'Mom' the other day? And it wasn't even sarcastic or anything!"

"Oh!" Elizabeth smiled, putting her hands over June's. "That's Neal for you. That's so sweet."

"Yeah, that's Neal, charming the girls in his life and torturing the men." Peter grumbled.

"And now my sister's his next target. Ugh!" he hit the doorframe with the heel of his hand without realizing the force. After a moment, his hand realized it for him. "Ow!"

June frowned, not paying much attention to his accident. "Your sister is… Madison, correct?"

Peter looked at her. "Yes…?"

June waved her hand dismissively. "You've got nothing to worry about. He's told me about her and how she's like a sister to him already."

"Ah, but did he tell you he kissed her on New Years?" Peter demanded.

June frowned. "That's tradition, honey."

Peter frowned and was about to retort when he realized that it wouldn't at all be right. It was June, after all, the second sweetest woman he knew, next to his wife. "…I need a drink." He muttered before disappearing.

The two women watched him leave, then turned back to the table. June frowns. "After this is taken care of, your husband needs a vacation."

"Don't I know it, June… don't I know it."

Madison didn't know how Neal did it, being that he had purposely blocked his work from her view. However, sure enough, the smallest hint of sparks were coming from a group of the wires. "You've got to be joking."

"Nope." Neal replied, looking around. He grinned, succeeding in finding a pile of papers on the floor. After making sure that they weren't anything that, if burned, could screw them over any more than the situation was already, he set them alight. "Stay behind me."

"Oh, like I was gonna leave myself open to get shot if they figure something out." Madison replied.

Neal frowned. "Seriously, how do you manage to turn into Peter within two hours of a crisis?"

"Shut up and do whatever you're planning." Madison replied.

Neal shrugged and went over to the window, putting the curtains aside. "Okay, two floors, barred windows that should be able to open… we should be good."

" 'Should be'?"

"Uh huh." Neal replied before opening the window a crack. He moved towards the wire contraption he had made, started fidgeting with it, and within a moment, had it sparking. He brought it over to the curtain and watched as the flame reached the fabric and started its way up. It was slower than Neal had wanted, but it was a start. He looked at the other curtain. "Help me with this one, will ya?"

"What do you need?" Madison went over to him.

"Oh, now you're welcome to help?" Neal smiled.

"Shut up. I figure anything's better than sitting here."

"Good. Help me get this off and get it by the door- OW!" Neal threw his hands up when Madison smacked him once again. "What's with you and the hitting?!"

"I get it from a friend, okay? She's not the most… vocal person when it comes to saying distrust. My point is that if we put that by the door, our air is gonna be gone."

"Well then, my last plan is in affect, then!"

"You as-" Madison swung around when the door burst open..

"Shit!" Neal turned, just in time to have someone come up behind him and force him into a headlock. He gulped when he saw Madison in the same predicament. He put one hand out, instructing her not to try anything. "What do you people want? Who are you working for?" He looked behind him, seeing two other man had already put out the fire that had barely gotten anywhere, anyway.

"You're about to find out, Pretty Boy, while your girlfriend stays with us."

At that comment, Neal wasn't sure whether to be more concerned for his safety or Madison's. "Fine, I'll go with her as long as no harm comes to her. I'll do whatever you want."

The man smirked, looked as if he was considering, then nodded. "Fine."

Neal shook his head, not trusting him at all, but he realized he didn't have much of a choice. "Let's go, then." He shoved Neal through the door and down the flight of stairs. Once they were down, then man shoved him into a room, then closed the door. Neal turned to the door, then turned back around and sighed, seeing the room was a dark red, the furniture was also stained a dark brown, cherry, maybe, he concluded, then the curtains were also drawn. "You gotta be kidding me." He hated cliché intimidation attempts. He hated them just about as much as he hated his mug shot.

"So… Mr. Caffrey."

Neal turned towards the voice and held back a gag when the person who addressed him turned around- sitting in a leather chair. The guy was definitely trying too hard for his taste. "Who are you?" He decided to play along. It could make them live longer, anyway.

"Who I am isn't quite important. It's what you did that is. I want to… fix that."

Neal wanted so badly to bite back with sarcasm about how he wouldn't know what he did without knowing who he was. "And how would you 'fix' whatever this is? Ransom? A deal?" Killing me? He shuddered. No need jumping to conclusions about what he sensed was the answer, anyway. He watched as the man got up from the chair, walked around the desk, and stood in front of him, hands in his pockets There was the chuckle again.

"Mr. Caffrey, you and I… there was a mix up, not too long ago, about a painting used for one of my… ahem, jobs… now, to keep it safe for you and your little misses up there… I want you to steal it back for me."

Neal snorted. "She's not my…" He stopped mid sentence. If he implied anything else, Madison would be rendered useless. As cliché as these guys were, Neal knew deep down they meant business. What did that mean? Obsolete people were as good as dead. Maddie would be as good as dead. He would be as good as dead too, if Peter got that news. "Misses… yet." He finished. "So what do you want me to do?"

The man looked down. "Well, I know a guy who knows a guy who's met you…"

It took Neal a moment to register that one.

"He says you're an ass, but you ain't that bad." He finished.

Neal paused, then remembered the mobster that was involved in the case involving the Bible with healing powers. "I'm known to a lot of people like that."

"I see that."

Neal shrugged. "You expect me to believe that you're gonna let us do this no questions asked, and we won't expect to get shot in the back right when we leave? What painting is this, anyway?"

The man handed him a photo, and Neal had to hold it up at various angles in order to catch the light coming through from the crack between the door and wall. His breath hitched in his throat when he recognized the painting was the last one he had stolen before the entire Kate ordeal exploded and he allowed Peter to catch him. "La Bella Fiore." He mumbled. He barely made out the man nodded.

"Precisely my boy. Now, I want you to go re-steal it for me."

Neal snorted. "You can't be serious-" He froze, feeling a gun come up to his chin.

"Are you challenging me, boy?"

"No." Neal replied. "But you can't expect me to find this on my own. I mean, I've been away from that for a while now."

"Don't matter. You're the man to do it since you did it once before."

Neal shrugged. "I'm going to need one of my connections."

"No. I'm not having that. You can call your fed friend and he'll come to the rescue."

"I give you my word." Neal went to smile, then remembered it was probably impossible for him to see it.

"No such luck. Now get to work."

Neal scoffed. "How?" He didn't have much chance to finish his question, because the next thing he knew, something connected with the back of his head, and he went out like a light.

"Neal? Neal? Wake up. Come on. Neal?!"

Neal twitched and swatted the hand away that was currently patting his cheek. It sounded like Elizabeth He prayed that the entire thing had been a strange, bad dream. However, when he opened one eye and saw Madison leaning over him, looking worried, he realized it wasn't. "Now that I can handle. The harder hitting isn't gonna work out if we're stuck together." He tried to move, only to find he couldn't. He looked down, then grinned up at Madison when he found she was straddling him. "I knew you couldn't resist."

Madison scoffed, then raised an eyebrow as well as one of her hands.

Neal put his hands up. "What'd I just say?!"

Madison shook her head. "I woke up next to you and saw you like that, idiot. It was a reflex doing that. Now get up." She moved her hand to indicate for him to take it.

"Uh huh." Neal smirked, taking it.

She helped him to his feet. "So what did they tell you?"

"Oh, nothing much. I just have to re-steal a painting I stole a while back. Where are we?"

"I have no clue. Like I said, I woke up next to you. They knocked me out with something in a rag, next thing I knew, you and I were here. We could be out of state again for all we know." Madison replied, fishing around in her jeans pockets. "Shit, they took my phone."

Neal frowned. "You had one to begin with?! Why didn't you call Peter before?!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't really thinking clearly with all the creepy guys with guns towering over us and dragging us everywhere!"

Neal sighed. "Yeah, sorry."

Madison nodded. "It's fine. What about you? Anything? Anklet, maybe?"

"No, they cut it before. I didn't have my phone at all. The guy who had me said no contact with any of our guys. Usually I would've said 'screw it' and call for help, but these guys… they're pretty serious."

Madison nodded. "I guess you're right. So what do we do now?"

Neal frowned, letting his foot poke at the ground briefly, then looked up at her. "We gotta find information on that painting. Come on."


	4. Fine

**A/N: For those of you unfamiliar with New York State, just as a side note, New Paltz is roughly a couple of hours driving distance from NYC (If the driver's lucky). Anyways, thanks for the reviews, glad I've kept you interested this far, enjoy, and don't forget to review and tell me what you thought. I miss some of the reviewers from the previous chaps, haha.**

* * *

Neal hadn't made as many observations than he was at the moment. He was looking all over the place for any trace of where they could be. They had passed a few shops on the street they were going on, but none gave so much as a town name. He nearly tripped when Madison's arm shot out in front of him. "Whoa, easy. What do you see?"

"Bookstore with an unfamiliar name. Check it out- Serenade Booksellers." Madison replied. "This place is a small town, which means that place is probably private, which means they may have a map or some book on the town, and maybe even some art books." She finished, pointing across the street at the small bookstore she had seen.

Neal snorted. "Yeah, if it's not some messed up porno book store. I mean, Serenade Bookseller? Come on."

"It's worth a shot." Madison offered.

"Right, and what're we supposed to tell Bozo a few feet back who's been following us since we left? We stopped for a bit of light reading or fun? Ah!" He snapped his fingers when she went to turn to see the man. "Don't look at him. I don't think he knows I'm onto him."

"Well, either way it's a step better than what we have right now."

Neal sighed. "Fine."

The two hurried across the street, and sure enough, they spotted the man Neal had mentioned follow them in the reflection from the window. They exchanged looks before walking inside. The place was large, despite the outside appearance, and to Neal's relief, it was more of what Madison had been expecting than he was.

Madison looked at him. "Split up. No one's around, at least at the moment. I'll look for the books, you look for a map or something."

"You sure? 'Cause I think I have a sense for sniffing out-"

"Neal, map."

"Yeah, okay. If this guy comes in and starts trouble, you call for me, got it?" Neal questioned.

"Same to you. Now go." Madison replied, heading towards the back of the store were the most books seemed to be, as Neal went into the room next to the main one. About two steps in, he sighed, seeing a map half the size of the room on the wall, where a "You are here" spot was labeled. "Well that was easy." He sauntered over to it, and after some difficulty, found the nearest town. "…And that's just about the only good news I've had in the past couple of days." He leaned back. "Maddie! I got it!"

"Got what, sir?"

Neal jumped and turned around, seeing a short old man, possibly in his fifties or sixties, looking back at him. "Oh, ha, sorry. I'm uh…" He spotted the man who had been following them enter the store. "Just trying to get my girlfriend over here to show her that I didn't get us lost after all. You see, we had some car trouble and got lost, then I didn't want to ask for directions, and-"

"The lady got mad?" The man smiled after a moment.

Neal laughed, praying it was convincing. The man had believed him thus far, hopefully he'd believe that. "Exactly."

"They're all like that, son. Well, now that you found what you're looking for, can I help you with anything else?"

Neal grinned. "Yes, actually. I sent her off to find a book on art history. Any chance you carry some? I take you're the owner."

The man smirked. "Indeed I am, sir, and indeed I do. We're right next to a college town, after all."

Neal shrugged. "Yes we are. Stupid on my part… again." Another fake but convincing laugh followed.

The man shook his head. "Ah, women. Can't live with them, can't live-"

"Without them, yes." Neal finished.

The man nodded proudly. "Well, follow me, let's see if I have what your girlie's looking for." He led Neal out to the main room again, grunting a greeting at the other man in the store. Neal forced his eyes to stay on the floor to avoid any other contact with the follower. The store owner led him down to one aisle and laughed, seeing Madison halfway up a small ladder, looking at a set of books on art. "Is this your lady, son?"

Madison blinked curiously at them, then spotted Neal raising his eyebrows and waving his arms behind the man's back.

"Yes. It is, sir." Neal replied, waving his arms a couple of more times for good measure. 'Play along' he mouthed afterwards, then put on another grin when the owner turned.

Madison sighed, then when the owner looked back at her, she smiled, almost identical to Neal. "Yes, I am. I take he told you about our little hunt? I have no clue what I'm doing." She climbed down the ladder and jogged the couple of steps over to Neal, practically attaching herself to his side, putting an arm around him. "He's the smart one when it comes to the doosy decimal thingees." She let out an stereotypical giddy laugh that made Neal twitch.

"Dewey decimal system, _sweetheart._" Neal corrected.

Madison pinched his side and shot him a dirty look.

The owner smiled and shook his head. "What're you lookin' for, ma'am?"

"Uh…" Madison blinked. "I only know the title of the work actually._ La Bella Fiore_? Not sure who-"

"Ellwin Ferdinand." Neal cut her off.

"Ah." The owner nodded. "One of my favorites, actually. Makes it easy." He chuckled and pulled one of the books and tossed it down to Neal. "There you go."

Neal flipped it open to the index, finding the name of the painting, then the artist. He flipped to the front now and nodded, seeing it was a relatively new addition. He hoped it would tell where it was presently. However, he knew it was a long shot. "Thank you, sir." He turned to check for the mobster's goon, but his eyes fell on something else. After all, he wouldn't be Neal Caffrey if he didn't see the fedora resting on a coatrack in the corner. "Hey!" He went over to it and flipped it on, sending another grin in Madison and the store owner's direction.

Madison sighed. "He does that. I guess you learn to like that in him."

The owner shrugged. "Hey, you can have that, if you'd like."

Neal's smile widened as he took off the hat. "Really?"

Madison frowned. "Neal, is this really the time to fanboy over a hat?" She held in a yelp when he stepped down hard on her foot.

The owner didn't seem to notice. He just shrugged. "Yeah. It's doing nothing but gathering dust here. You're the first to appreciate that thing in years. Purchase the book, and that hat's as good as yours."

Neal beamed even more, if that was possible. "Deal." He reached in his back pocket when the fact that this wasn't a trip for pleasure hit him- followed by the fact that he didn't have his wallet. The Hell…? He gave up playing dumb and glowered at the goon a few feet away.

The goon stared right back, then growled and took his own wallet out. "Allow me, sir."

Neal frowned. "Really?"

The goon shrugged. "A small favor to see two people so in love."

Neal did another fake smile, trying to sort out just what these mobsters were about. This guy had a Russian accent, while none of the others did. How'd that add up with the mob? Sure enough, though, when the owner shrugged and passed over the book to the man, he checked the price and pulled out ten dollars, handing it over to the man.

The owner gave the man his change, then passed the book to Madison. "You have a good day, ma'am, and you enjoy that hat, sir."

"Will do, thanks again." Neal replied, looping an arm around Madison's shoulder before leading her out of the store. The two sped walk the next few feet to put some distance between them and the goon, who followed shortly after.

Once they were about a block from the store, Neal let his arm drop. Madison looked at him. "So where are we?" she asked. "And put the hat on, if you're that desperate. You're technically a dead man walking, anyway. Cover yourself up."

Neal shrugged, realizing she was right. He flipped the hat back on. "Not as far as I thought. We're right outside New Paltz."

"Alright, so how the Hell do we get back?" Madison replied.

"We don't. Not yet. We have to give this guy at least part of what he wants, or you and I, and maybe even everyone else we know are dead."

"True." Madison nodded. "Alright, so what's the next step?"

Neal pointed at a bench about a half block up. "We pull over and see what the book can give us."

* * *

--

Meanwhile:

The bookstore owner, Louis, was not at all convinced that the couple he had dealt with weren't just in the store for pleasure. There was something up, especially after the creepy-looking man had just sauntered over and paid for that book. However, that didn't seem that important, because seconds after the three visitors had left, Louis had realized why the man who smiled way too much looked familiar. He picked up the phone, mumbled something, took out his phone book, then dialed a number. He waited a few seconds, then cleared his throat. "Yes, Hello? I may have some information for you on that Neal Caffrey fellow on the television? Yes, I know, found dead just the other day, mm hm. Well, that's just a little hard to believe when he and who my guess is the 'Mystery Girl' just walked into my shop now, isn't it?"

* * *

--

Peter froze when he was just about halfway into the F.B.I van and someone tapped his shoulder. He sensed it wasn't anything good. He poked his head back out and frowned, seeing Hughes looking back at him. "…Oh."

Hughes pointed outside. "Out, Burke!"

Peter sighed. "Hughes, it's a lead. This guy saw Neal and Maddie just a few minutes ago, and they're being followed by someone!"

Hughes shook his head. "You're too connected, Peter. I'm saying this as a friend. What if something's happened to them in the past while, hm? Would you want to see your friend or sister hurt or worse? No one does."

"But I need to know anything about them. I'll even take bad news. Hughes, put yourself in my shoes. Forget Neal. You have a little sister? Don't you? Annabelle, right? What would you do if she was the one missing, hm?"

Now it was Hughes' turn to sigh. "I'm sorry, Peter, but you staying out of it is my final say.

Peter clenched his jaw. "Fine, but keep me informed. I want an update every hour. Hell, every _half_ hour."

Hughes smiled. "Go back to the first part of that, and you have yourself a deal."

Peter looked him over, then huffed. "Fine." He got back out and walked over to Jones and Lauren, who were on their way over. "So I can't go, but you two can?"

Lauren licked her lips, then nodded. "Sorry, Peter."

"It's fine." Peter lied, then looked at Jones. "Our agreement?"

Lauren frowned. "…Agreement?"

Jones looked down and coughed before handing Peter his car keys.

Lauren's frown deepened. "Peter…" She warned.

"What? I'm not on the case!" Peter snapped. "…I'm just gonna have a friendly chat with the store owner about 'the guy who loved the Fedora'." He added. He had to admit, he was skeptical about the call from Louis until the small detail about the hat was mentioned. After that, there was no mistaking that it wasn't some Neal impersonator. He just about jumped over his desk to get paper and scribble the address and other information down.

Lauren crossed her arms over her chest. "You two know this could end badly, right?"

Jones nodded. "Uh huh." He put his hand on Peter's shoulder. "Which is exactly why I'm telling you this: Get me fired, and I'll shoot you. Wreck my baby and I'll shoot you, too."

Peter raised his eyebrows, but smiled and nodded all the same. "Deal." He patted Jones' shoulder, then looked at Lauren, who was still looking at him like a disappointed mother. "I know what I'm doing, and I'll stay out of sight, Cruz."

Lauren rolled her eyes. "Just don't get yourself killed." She nodded at Jones. "By him or anyone else."

Peter smiled, then winked at her. "Thanks, Cruz. Now you two get going before Hughes suspects something."

"Like he doesn't already?" Jones asked.

Peter shot him a look, but the two just shrugged before heading for the van. Peter made his way to Jones' car, and started it up. He waited for the van to pull out and drive for about a block before he started to follow it.

--

A few minutes later, Peter was getting paranoid about the possibility that Hughes did know, and would make the agent driving speed up at any second. He watched as the van came to a stop at a traffic light a few feet away when his own car suddenly stopped short, causing the man to bump his head on the windshield. Realizing he was lucky that he didn't end up flying through it, Peter realized there was absolutely no reason why the car should've stopped. His foot was on the gas, not break, and no warning light was on. "What the Hell…?". He jumped in surprise when the co-passenger door suddenly flung open. He let out a long exhale when he recognized the bald head of the man that had just climbed in beside him. He spotted a strange contraption in Mozzie's hand, and figured it had something to do with the car stopping. "What're you doing?"

"Helping you." Mozzie replied, fastening his seat belt. "Drive."

Peter just stared at the man for a while. For some reason, he had developed an admiration and respect of sorts for the man, despite them being on opposite sides. "Fine by me, as long as you don't use that… _thing_ to make the car stop again."

Mozzie pocketed the gizmo. "What thing, Suit?"

Peter found that he actually chuckled at that before continuing to drive, not having lost much distance on the van at all.


	5. Wake Me When It's Over

**A/N: Hahaha, turns out I knew one of my reviewers here in the real world. Anyways, thanks for the feedback and story alerts. Glad you guys like it. Sorry it's been a while. I hate to make it sound like I'm just making an excuse out of a tragic event, but my friend killed herself last week and I've been out of it and in no writing mood whatsoever until now because of that event. This is actually more of a short filler chap for that reason, anyway. Sorry. I hope you enjoy this chapter all the same. The Leverage bit really starts in this chap.**

* * *

"Don't… touch… anything." Peter growled to Mozzie as he got up from kneeling by the welcome mat of Madison's house.

Mozzie looked at the house with distaste. "I won't. Why would I, anyway? The place looks beat."

"Well, the inside's a Hell of a lot better. Just sit in the living room and wait." Peter replied.

"Who's house is this again…?" Mozzie asked.

"My sister's. Now shut up." Peter opened the door with the key that had been under the mat and stepped into the house, heading for the kitchen.

"And why're we here?" Mozzie continued questioning the agent.

"Because maybe somehow there's a clue to what's going on. Maybe my sister found some way to get to a phone and left a message."

"And didn't call you?" Mozzie crossed his arms.

Peter pointed to the living room. "Go!"

Mozzie narrowed his eyes. "I don't see why Neal puts up with you. "

"Because he likes me better. Shoo. I don't need you stealing anything."

With an indignant 'hmph', Mozzie stalked into the room he was being assigned to. Peter went into the kitchen. He knew Mozzie was right. It was a stretch, and after all, Madison had been visiting a friend when the thing went down, but it didn't hurt to try. He went into the kitchen and looked around. No new messages. He played the old voicemails and her recording, still nothing new. He flipped through a few papers on the counter, and all he found were a couple of unpaid bills. He glanced over at the bulletin board and frowned, seeing a note on bright blue paper. "What the Hell?" His sister was never one for paper like that, so what could that have been. He tilted his head in order to read it.

_Mads-  
__If anything like this happens again, you know who to call._

There was another line, different handwriting below that one:

_And in case you don't, here's the number._

Peter twitched. Who were these people? No names or anything were written on the note, just the number. He squinted, thinking he saw a 'Pa' through a scribbled out section of the paper. He growled a bit, not willing to take chances. What if this was backwards? What if Madison was the first to get roped in, and Neal was also connected somehow? That thought wasn't the only thing that got to him. His protective big brother side kicked in as well. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number and waited. One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Four.

"Maddie! How are you!" Someone, a man, to be more specific, picked up. He seemed all too cheerful and Peter could almost see the grin on the man's face… and the grin was just about it. What worried him was the fact that the man sounded like he was around Peter's age. The protective-older-brother-urge got stronger. "Who's this?"

The man was silent for a while. "I think I should be asking you that, being that you called and you're clearly not the person who this phone belongs to." The man said matter of factly. "This is Madison's brother. Who is this?"

"Ah. She never told me she had a brother."

"Who. Is. This?!" Peter demanded. "Look, if you have anything to do with her and my friend getting taken-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What?!" Madison's been taken? By who?!"

Peter frowned, hearing a scuttle on the other end. There was a conversation going on in the background. Another male voice, this one rougher than the first had a hint of a southern accent. The southerner was asking what was going on. A female voice was inquiring who was on the phone and whom they were talking about. Peter heard the southerner tell the woman to shut up.

The man came back on the phone. "How do you know about this?!"

"None of your business. Who is this?"

"Are you sure she's not just gone… on a vacation or something? How do you know?" The first man asked.

"I just do. Check out the news." Peter snarled. While he was still impatient with the man, he suddenly felt like he could trust him, anyway- well, trust him to a point, at least.

"Wait… is she the woman in the Caffrey case?!"

"Mm hm."

"You mean, she… so she's not dead."

"No." Peter replied. "You still haven't answered me."

"Listen, Mr…"

"Burke. Your turn."

"Burke. Alright, my… _colleagues_ and I have been checking the whole thing out these last couple of days now, and now that we know Maddie's involved, we're coming to you. Expect some visitors soon. Meet at Maddie's in say… two days, if it lasts this long?" The man didn't wait for an answer. "Good. See you then."

Peter wanted to punch the man through the phone. He let out an annoyed shout when the line went dead. He jumped when Madison's landline rang a moment later. His hope rose briefly, praying it was either Madison, Neal, or whoever Mr. Mysterious was. He spotted the caller I.D. "Nate, who the hell is Nate?" He picked up. "Madison's not in. Her brother Peter, speaking." He rose an eyebrow, wondering if that even just came out of his mouth.

"Ah, Good. I take it's Peter Burke, then."

It was Mr. Mystery, after all. "Hm." He was letting this guy do the talking, now.

"It sounds like we're in business now that you and I have a friend who's in danger in common, Mr. Burke."

"Mm hm." Peter nodded.

"The name's Rom. Ethan Rom. We'll be there soon."

"Wait, Maddie's caller I.D said your name was Na-" However, the line went dead again. Peter set the phone down, realizing that throwing it against the wall wouldn't do much good.

Mozzie came shuffling in. "What was that about, Suit?"

Peter clenched his jaw. "Well, I either just got reinforcements… or made this thing worse."

"Wonderful!" Mozzie shook his head and sent Peter his trademark sarcastic smile.

Peter rolled his eyes. "Shut up and go back into the living room. I'm still not- is that Maddie's digital camera you have in your pocket? Put the camera down!"

* * *

"Anything?" Neal mumbled through the corner of his mouth that wasn't covered by his hand. He and Madison had found another bookstore some time after the first one and had picked up a couple of more books that had information on the painting. Now, every so often, they would read the passage in the book dedicated to it, then toss it to the other, waiting to see if a con could see something that a law-abiding citizen wouldn't, or vice versa.

"Nope." She tossed him her book and caught the one he tossed. "I take you didn't either. When did you steal it again?"

Neal shot her a look.

She rolled her eyes. "Sorry." She made air quotes. "Supposedly steal it."

Neal shrugged. "I was actually warning you about the couple that just passed behind you as you said 'you steal', but I appreciate the correction all the same."

"Spit it out, Pretty Boy." She replied.

Neal thought for a moment. "November of '01."

"Alright." Madison flipped to the index of her book and scanned it for dates. "Nothin' yet… oh, maybe" She leaned closer and flipped to a page. Neal got up and read over her shoulder until he caught sight of their watcher coming towards them. "Incoming asshole." He warned.

The two glared at the man.

He just smirked. "The boss wants to see you."

"And if we don't want to see him?"

The man snorted. "You mistake yourselves with people who have a choice." He replied, grabbing both of them by the backs of their shirts. Neal had just enough sense to grab the books before they were dragged towards a (naturally, Neal noted) steel back 4x4. They were in for it now. "Where's Peter when you need him?!"

"Clearly not where you need him." The man replied.

"Yeah, I see that, Captain Obvious." Neal replied, which earned him a cuff to the back of the head. "Ah. Son of a bitch." He ducked just in time to keep from hitting his head on the roof of the truck as he was practically thrown in, followed by Madison. "You okay?"

"Could be better, thanks." Madison replied with cheerful sarcasm before banging her head on his shoulder. "It's official. We're screwed." She announced as the car started to move.

"We're not screwed." Neal replied. "We just have to find out where this painting is, find out what this guy wants, and deliver!" Neal replied, trying to convince himself of his argument.

Madison sighed. "Yeah, if we don't get shot for taking so long, first." She replied.

"…You and Peter are so morbid. How are your parents?"

"Bring our parents into this, and I swear to God, I'll castrate you."

Neal stared at her, still on his shoulder, then snorted and looked out the window. "Well, that's a new one. Never heard a girl say that to me before."

"First time for everything." Madison replied. "Well, being that we're nowhere near where we were held before, I'm gonna sleep while we still have the chance. Wake me if you come up with some ingenious way to get us outta this." She shifted again so most of her back spanned the length of his arm, then sighed.

Neal shook his head. It was official. The Burkes were secretly crazy. However, her last comment was taken to heart, and he started coming up with plans, well, what letter was it, by now? Plans C to G. If it was one person that didn't go down without a fight, it was Neal Caffrey.

**A/N: Again, not thrilled with this one. All the characters are OOC. The only good bit is my friend on here suggested that I make another companion piece to this alone and make it the Leverage team's storyline throughout this whole thing, but centered on them. Those of you who like the idea and have seen Leverage, what do you think of that? I promise I won't make Nate as OOC as he was in this chap, if I do end up doing the full length Leverage one. He'll be better in the future chaps too, I promise.**


	6. The First Lead

**A/N: Sorry for the wait. Life's been hectic. The chapter is shorter than I hoped it would be for that exact reason. Hope you all enjoy. **

* * *

"Maddie! MADDIE! Wake up, damn it! You're worse than Peter with getting up! Don't make me find a basketball to throw at your head like I had to with him! Maddie!" Neal had been trying to wake the woman up for the past six blocks- blocks that he recognized as the ones that were fairly close to the city. He didn't like the situation at all, and now his only chance at help was unconscious on his shoulder… and he was pretty sure she was drooling, too. "You are NOT making me do this on my own! Maddie!" He hissed again, then realized his next best choice. He knew he was going to get slapped for it. "Sorry…" With all the strength he could manage to put into the action without causing the driver to see what was going on, Neal lurched towards Madison, causing her to go flying against the side of the car and hit her head on the plastic. To his relief, she did wake up. At the sudden murderous look that crossed her face, he shrunk back. "Don't you dare try slapping me. You told me to wake you up with a new development!"

She groaned and smacked his arm lightly anyway. "Only wake a girl up after she's stirred, idiot."

"You weren't moving! You could've died in your sleep or something!"

"Now you're pushing it."

"So are you!" Neal snapped.

"Oh, whatever. What'd you wake me for, anyw-" She was cut off from talking when he took her jaw in his hand and moved it so she could see out the window. "…ay?" She looked back at him. "We're back."

Neal nodded, looking around. "This is just getting annoying. To Hell with dangerous."

"No shit. Where are we going, now?"

Neal's look of curiosity dropped. "You don't think they're gonna screw with Peter and drag us somewhere he's gonna go and put guns to our heads, do you?"

Madison looked at him, wide eyed. "Stop watching so many movies and stop possibly jinxing us. Really." She shook her head. "Well, you would know, wouldn't you? You've dealt with these guys before."

"I've dealt with a lot of people, Mads."

"…Great." Madison put her head back, hitting it on the back of the seat.

"Hey, look on the bright side." He had to laugh at another one of Peter's expressions on Madison's face. It was one of those 'Is this even worth it', 'shut up before I bury you' or 'should I even bother asking?' looks. "…Chances are they'll kill me first." He offered with a smile.

Madison facepalmed. "Where's El when you need him…?"

Neal blinked. " 'him?'… Unless they're not telling me something very, very big, last I checked Elizabeth was a-"

"Not her, idiot!" Madison replied. "I have a friend who I call El. Just leave it at that, 'kay? Forget me smacking you, I say the word to El after another stupid comment, he'd beat the shit out of you"

"Oh, then Peter'll _love_ him!" He replied, then sent her a winning smirk.

"Guh!" Madison looked down at her feet and crossed her arms. "Unbelievable. I swear…"

"You started it." Neal replied, before he suddenly lurched forwards

The two blinked in surprise when the door swung open. They hadn't even noticed the car had been coming to a stop.

A new goon was on Neal's side of the car within seconds. "Alright you two. Let's go."

"Where are we off to, now?" Madison asked sarcastically.

The goon smirked. "Nice place. Pretty. You'll like it- lots of flowers."

Neal twitched. The guy had some issues, he was playing with them, or he was just as sarcastic as Cruz was on a bad day. His favorite combo. He wanted to stomp on the guy's foot and run. When he looked at Madison, he realized her thoughts weren't far off from his. By the look on her face, he knew that it wasn't just his face that had "slap here" written all over it. At least that was something he could take pride in knowing. He scooted out of the car, not quite willing to be yanked around…again. Apparently, Madison didn't have that choice, because once she was out, a second goon came around, grabbed her arm and pulled her over to where Neal was. She glared at him. "For the record, I blame you." She announced, pulling out of the goon's grip so she could stand straight.

"We've been over that. I know." Neal replied.

The two remained quiet when they were led into yet another building. After a while, Neal saw inside several of the windows and came to a conclusion. "…It's a library."

"What? Why?"

"More sources for us. Fantastic." Neal grumbled, leaning towards one of the windows to see better. "…It's not Sunday. Why is nobody in there? It can't be after eight…" When he heard the goon behind him chuckle. "What did your boss call in?"

"A bomb threat, actually. Once they recognize a supposed mob boss on the line talking about blowing the favorite place of a rival…" he laughed. "You run."

Neal and Madison exchanged looks quickly. So if they were caught around there, that would probably make them seem like… both of them came to the realization at the same time of what those possibilities were… and neither of the possibilities ended well for them. _Shit._ Another few seconds passed, and they were roughly thrown into the building, and the doors slammed behind them.

While Neal seemed to temporarily give up, just sprawling out on the floor where he had been thrown and mumbling "ow,", Madison sat up. "Alright, Mr. Conman. What's plan B?"

"_Stop_ being _Peter_!"

Within minutes, the two had a few books in a pile and were sprawled out next to each other, once again tossing books back and forth, attempting to find anything on the painting, until Neal found the best lead they got so far. He smacked the back of her upper thigh, but when he accidentally went too far up and hit something that clearly wasn't her thigh, he sent her the most innocent look possible to try and counteract the death glare she received. "I didn't mean to-"

"Shut up. What do you have?"

Neal grinned and pointed to a line in the book he had. "We have ourselves a current location."

Peter paced in his home, trying to sort out any facts he could of the case so far. He had decided to ignore Ethan, or Nate, or whatever the Hell his name was, at least for now. His main focus was trying to help the case along as best he could behind the scenes- which proved too hard at some times. That was the reasoning behind him pacing and Mozzie, Elizabeth, and even Satchmo just watching him. Mozzie was the only one out of two who could speak that had words for Peter. "…Your concern for Neal worries me."

"Too damn bad!" Peter snapped. "And if you've forgotten, which I'm sure you have, my little sister is with Neal. That's reason to worry for multiple reasons!"

Mozzie frowned. "You worry about him but have him in such low regard…"

Peter pinched the bridge of his nose. "Leave before I punch you in the face. Really."

"Why Suit, that's so unlike you?"

And Peter lunged. If Elizabeth hadn't been there to hold him back, he probably would've throttled Neal's fellow con, too."

"Honey, it's not worth it."

"Oh, yes it is." Peter replied.

Elizabeth shot him a warning look that made him back off. He sat back down on the couch on the direct opposite side of Mozzie. Both the men crossed their arms over their chests and looked away, much like children would.

Elizabeth just stared at the situation she was now in the middle of. "You've _got_ to be kidding…"


	7. Keep Her on a Leash

**A/N: Alright, little quick note. I didn't recall if Jones has ever spoken directly to Mozzie under any circumstance, so in this chap, Jones just has a feeling he's seen him. If I'm wrong… let's just say he hasn't spoken to him. Enjoy the chap.**

* * *

"Neal, the book said the painting's in a small museum six hours away. Not to mention the book is four years old. It could've changed. Oh, and let's not forget that we're being held by the mob!"

Neal rolled his eyes at Madison's objection, then realized something. "Well, at least you're more of a drizzle as opposed to an all out downpour on my parade."

"Lemme guess. Pete's the downpour."

"Yep."

It was Madison's turn to shake her head. "Idiot."

"You know you love me." Neal grinned.

"Whatever. Just go tell the guy what we found. For the record, if he shoots you, I saw or heard nothing."

"Well, I won't be around to question that record if he does now, would I?" The look he got in response worried him, being that for once there wasn't a trace of Peter- it was one of June's disapproving looks. It scared the crap out of him and made him question just what he was getting himself into all at once. "…Now you're just being judgmental."

"You know you love me." She winked.

Neal had to chuckle at the way she returned his comment, then noticed Fat Rambo come out of the room. "So, The Boss ready to see us?"

"Just you." Rambo replied.

"No. She stays with me. That's the deal. I'm not leaving her with you and your… friends. Do you even call them that?"

Rambo smirked. "Maybe,"

Neal kept up the neutral expression. "Either way, she comes in with me this time. You can call it an insurance policy. I know she's safe, so I behave and help you with this thing."

"Or how about we handle her ourselves?"

Neal barely had time to register the comment before he heard Madison let out a yelp. He turned, seeing another goon had one hand gripping her throat and had a gun to her head in his other hand. He turned to Rambo. "Hey! That's not gonna work."

"Well, unless you'd like to see a bullet go through your pretty little thing's head, you really don't have a say in where she goes."

Neal glanced at Madison, who gave him a look that practically screamed 'do as they say and don't pull anything.' He scowled and sent her an apologetic look before looking at Rambo. "Fine- I'll go alone as long as nothing else further happens to her." Who was he kidding? Either way he'd be taking the word of a mobster. _This'll go over __so__ well. _"Let's go."

"Good man." Rambo grinned before looking over his shoulder and nodded at two other goons. They came forward, and he shoved Madison into their arms before turning and grabbing Neal's arm. He dragged the conman into the room he had been in before. Sure enough, there was the boss, standing by the conveniently closed window. "My friend and I found a location that looks promising for your painting."

"How far?"

Neal shrugged. "Six hours away, give or take." There was no way he was giving an exact location… at least not yet.

"Good. Get Simon back in here to take you."

"Just like that?" Neal asked, hiding he was satisfied.

The man chuckled. "Well, you may want to rescue your girl first."

Neal frowned, but before he could ask, the man turned a screen on his desk. Neal's frown deepened when he saw it was, of all things, security feeds. With a glance at the top right section, he froze, seeing Madison in mid struggle with one of the goons. Somehow she had fought one of them off, but they were coming back towards her while she was still fighting with the second. He just stared for a moment, wondering how on Earth Madison learned half of the fight moves she was dishing out. He left it at law-enforcement family and dropped it. However, the knowledge that she still needed help came slamming back when Goon #1 got her into a headlock and Goon #2 started towards her, ready to dish out what he had received. Neal bolted for the door, swung it open and practically flung himself out. "Maddie!" He turned the corner and saw the events that had begun to unfold on camera continue a few feet away. "Hey!" He closed the gap between them, and with arm strength that he hadn't used since his prison days, he took a swing at Goon #2. The punch landed hard on the other's jaw. As Goon #2 stumbled back and Goon #1 went to attack Neal, the conman grabbed Madison, pulled her behind him, and managed to shove the goon back. "Thought we had an agreement."

"The bitch broke that when she punched me." Goon #2 grunted, returning to the area, using the heel of his hand to wipe blood from the split lip she had given him.

Madison stepped forward, but Neal nudged her back to keep her from going too overboard. "The bitch has plenty more for you, I assure you. Want a dislocated shoulder to add to that lip?"

"Maddie." Neal warned.

"Yeah, listen to your boyfriend. Keep your trap shut." Goon #1 smirked.

"Enough." Neal looked between them. "I have a location. I told your boss. Take us to it, and there's no more trouble."

"Tell that to your little bitch friend."

"Run that by me again, I dare you." Madison shot back.

Neal wrestled her back again. "Get the car, and we'll go. I can give you directions. I know the place from a few of my old jobs. Deal?"

"Like I said, just keep your girl on tight leash." Goon #1 replied.

"Fine by me." Neal replied, then shot a warning look at Madison.

"Good. Then let's go." Goon #1 agreed.

Neal nodded before wrapping a protective arm around Madison and letting the other two lead the way.

* * *

Peter stared down the files of possible suspects for taking his friend and sister. No one even looked familiar. He went to names connected to supposed mobsters to look for the one who had put Neal at gunpoint, but still no luck. He groaned and leaned back in his chair, as if waiting for a random sign to come and give him an answer. Apparently, the sign came in the form of Mozzie, because a couple of minutes after, Jones came into the office. "Hey, Burke. There's some guy here to see you."

Peter looked through the glass wall, seeing Mozzie on the other side.

The moment Mozzie saw him, he waved, just momentarily. When Jones turned back, the slight smile disappeared into a deep frown.

Jones grunted a bit, then looked back at Peter. "Have you ever seen that guy before? He looks familiar."

Peter paused, then shook his head. "Uh… no."

Jones glanced at Mozzie again. "Okay, then be careful with him."

"I will, Jones. Thanks,"

Jones nodded. "How you holdin' up?"

"Not good. I'll be better once we get a good lead."

Jones put a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'll send this guy in."

"You got it."

A few moments later, Jones let Mozzie in.

The short man shuffled over to Peter. "Suit." He greeted.

"Haversham." Peter nodded. "Anything yet?"

Mozzie nodded. "A couple. More like hunches."

"Let me have them." Peter perked up.

Mozzie narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. "What will I get in return?"

Peter gawked. "Wha… Nothing! Nobody but Jones knows you're involved, and he doesn't even know you!"

Mozzie shook his head. "Not good enough, Suit."

Peter rolled his eyes. "What do you want, then? You can't quite be immune with a case no one knows you're involved in."

"Unless you make this official." Mozzie replied.

Peter stared at him, trying to think about any possibility. One finally came up. "I'll convince Neal to spend free weekends with you instead of June or El and I."

"If he survives this." Mozzie finished for him.

Peter tensed at the very idea, but nodded all the same.

"Good. Here." Mozzie took a couple of files out from his jacket and passed them to Peter. He watched as Peter flipped through them. "Three possibilities, Suit. Narrowing them down is your job."

"No need." Peter replied, then pointed at one of the option's picture. "That's the guy who took Neal the first day."

"Hm." Mozzie nodded.

Peter smirked. "You got us our first lead. Nice!"

Mozzie smirked right back. "I have many of those moments, Suit."

"Oh, I'm sure you do. Now if you really want to avoid involvement, get outta here when I build up how I found this alone."

"Keep me posted, Suit."

"Will do."


End file.
